Tito Ortiz doesn’t want to see Cristiane Santos drop down to 135 pounds

Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz spent a good deal of his career as a thorn in UFC President Dana White’s side despite being one of the organization’s biggest stars. Now retired, Ortiz has turned his attention towards other ventures in Mixed Martial Arts including management. One of his clients of note is none other than former Strikeforce champion Cristiane Santos and, rather than play nice with the UFC, Ortiz is back to his old ways by making it clear he doesn’t want to see “Cyborg” slim down to 135 pounds just to appease Ronda Rousey and the Zuffa brass.

“Just being with Cyborg and wrestling her myself, she’s a big girl. To make it down to 135 pounds, it would be kind of health threatening, I think. But at the same time, I would love for the fight to happen. Let’s meet in the middle,” said Ortiz in a recent conversation with MMAInterviews.

“She’s cutting from 170 down, trying to make 135…that’s a big, big, big, big cut,” Ortiz continued. “We want to see an exciting fight. Do it at 140 pounds.”

Though a catch-weight clash would mean a UFC title wouldn’t be on the line, Ortiz believes fans’ interest in the match-up materializing should be enough motivation for the UFC to put the tilt together.

“It would be nice for it to be for a belt but at the same time people want to see her fight no matter what,” Ortiz concluded.

Santos’ yearlong suspension for steroid use expired earlier this month, freeing her up to continue her career. She holds an overall record of 10-1 including ten straight wins.

Exactly what MCM said, Dana’s already said they aren’t bringing in other divisions, so it’s either make 135 or go to Invicta, which has enough fighters, and is doing really well that she’d be able to be very successful there too.